Car-brake.



PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904.

A. G. SANDMAN.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

"I I l I I I I I I I I l I I I I I I l I l l I I I l I I I I I I I I I I l I I I I I I I I I I I I I l I I I I l I I I I J A M% j W it IOIIIMQQIWQ WITNESSES:

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PATENTED SEPT. s, 1904.

ITO-769,358-

A. G. SANDMAN.

GAR BRAKE. APPLIOA'L'IOH FILED MAB. 9, 1896.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Nb MODEL.

ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES;

Patented September 6, 1904.

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST G. SANDMAN, OF ST. DENIS, MARYLAND.

CAR-BRAK SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.-769,358, dated September 6, 1904.

Application filed March 9, 1896. Serial No. 582,355. (No model.)

' To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Aueus'r Gr. SANDMAN, 'a

citizen of the United States, residing at St.'

Denis, Baltimore county, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Brakes, of which the following, taken'in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification sufficiently full,

clear, and accurate as will enable those skilled in the art to embody and use the same.

The main object of my invention is the production of an air brake and a hand brake, first, each of which can be used independently of the other; second, both of which can be used simultaneously, and, third, the handbrake adapted to supplement the air-brake and also to hold the shoes against the wheels I at either or both ends of the car when the airbrake mechanism is in a partly or wholly released position.-

With this object in view my invention con' sists in certain novelties of construction and i both sides of each wheel.

combinations of elements hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

. The improvements are adapted for application to passenger and freight cars having either four or six wheel trucks and where the shoes are applied to one side only or to The rigging on the truck operated by the upper brake-lever con necting rod may be of any suitable construction,as the particular variety is not of the essence of my invention.

On the drawings, by way of example, I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention, the best mode I have so far devised, with the shoes applied to one side only-of the wheels of four andsix wheel trucks.

Figure l is an upper plan view showing both the hand and air brakes inoperative positions, the dotted lines indicating the outlines nection of the hand and air brake mechanismsof apassenger-car body. Fig. 2 is a side View of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the con' Hodge non-floating lever and lever-con'necting rod. Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and side views of my-improvements applied to a car having six-wheel trucks.

The letter A designates an air-brake cylinder and piston of the usual construction.

B B are the cylinder-levers.

Cis a cylinder-lever tie-rod.

E Eare Hodge non-floating levers; D D, Hodge lever-connecting rods, each having a slot I at one end and journaled to levers E E by pivot-pins H, as indicated in Fig. 5.

F Fare brackets attached to the under side of the car and to which are pivotedone end of each of the levers E E, as shown, -or in any other desirable Way, andG G are upper brake-lever-connecting rods. The foregoing enumerated parts or their equlvalents consti- .tute the necessary elements of the air-brake mechanism exclusive of the attachments on the trucks.

For the purpose of operating the rods G and applying the brake-shoes at each end of the car independently of the action of the air-brake cylinder and piston I join the hand-brake-connecting rods P P to the upper brake-lever-con- I necting rods G G (see Fig. 3) or to the lever E (see Fig. 6) through the medium of floating levers R R and yielding'elements S or S. Fig. 3 shows the elements S as a chain, and Fig. 4 the element S as a slotted bar, one being considered the equivalent of the other.

A floating connecting-rod T unites the two floating levers R. R. The ordinary handwheels and chains attached to rods P P are used on the platforms, as shown at the extreme ends of Figs. '1 and 6, and need not be described. The ordinary means for pivoting one, element to another is also employed, the

As the ends of the levers E E are pivoted in the brackets F F and as there is a flexible or compensating means uniting levers R to rods Gr or levers R to levers E the operation does not in any way afiect the hand-brake 'mechanism. When the shaft of the hand-brake is revolved in the usual manner, the levers R are rotated about the pivotal points, where they are attached to the'rod T, the chains drawn taut, and then the rods G are advanced and the brake-shoes brought in contact with the wheels.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the air-brake can be used independently and likewise simultaneously or in unison with the hand-brake, also that the hand-brake can be applied as supplemental to the air brake when descending steep grades or at other times. Under the latter condition the handbrake is capable of performing a very important function. for should the air partially or wholly escape or leak from the cylinder A and the piston move to a released position the hand-brake would still hold the brake-shoes against the wheels. 4 Moreover, it often happens that cars equipped with the ordinary air and hand brakes are left on inclined tracks or grade-sidingswith both the air and hand brakes set. When air leaks from the cylinder, the piston travels, the brakes release, and the car under the action of gravity moves from its proper location. My improvements prevent such release when the hand-brake is set, for the leakage from the air-cylinder and the partial or entire release of the air-brake does not impair the efficiency of the hand-brake.

To allow of the independent application of the hand-brake when the air-brake is in a released position, I have introduced the novel features hereinbefore describedto wit, the chain or slotted bar, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 6, and the slotted Hodge lever-connecting rods. (ShowninFig.5.) Whenthehand-wheel is turned and the lever R rotated, the lever E is'advanced in the direction of the cylinder A. The slots in the rods D or equivalent means allow such movement without moving the rods D themselves and the piston inasmuch as the pivot-pins travel in the slots. In an analogous manner, as stated, by the use of the chain S or slotted bar S the action of the air-brake does not impart motion to the handbrake mechanism.

While I have shown and described but one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention and applied to trucks with four and six wheels, which constitutes the best mode so far devised, and one modification of the yielding connection, I do not thereby intend to exclude other and equivalent modes inasmuch as many changes may be introduced in the way of construction and arrangement which will fall within the scope of my invention. Moreover, parts of my invention may be used without the appropriation of the entire mechanism. For instance, the rod T may be omitted and the hand-brakes operated independently on each or either end of the car. Again, the chain S may be attached directly to the end of lever E for the operation of the rod G, as in Fig. 6, and a flexible connection employed to perform the function of the slot I at the end of the rod D. Still further, in place of the yielding connection between rods D and lever E, I may substitute a yielding connection between the end of rod D and lever B or between rod G and lever B or slot the piston-stem, &c., or in Fig. 1 rod G may be slotted and advanced without imparting motion to lever E and the air-brake mechanism S, being attached to G. The yielding element S or S may also be differently located. Such and all similar changes I shall regard as immaterial variations or modifications when used as substitutions for my construction or purposes.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A combined air-brake and hand-brake mechanism consisting of the air-cylinder and piston; cylinder-levers; cylinder-lever tie-rod; rods D, D; levers E, E; brake-lever-connecting rods Gr, G, for applying the shoes; handbrake rods P, I; levers R, R; rod T; and yielding means between the end of a lever R and a rod Gr.

2. A combined air-brake and hand-brake mechanism consisting of an air-brake cylinder and piston; cylinder-levers; cylinder-levertierod; rods D, D; levers E, E; rods G, (ir, for applyingthe shoes; hand-brake rods; levers R, R; and rod T; the end of a lever R being in operative connection with a rod G by means of a chain S, and the end of a rod D being connected to a lever E by a slot-and-pin mechanism.

3. A combined air-brake and hand-brake mechanism consisting of an air-brake cylinder and piston; cylinder-levers; cylind er-lever tierod; rods D, D; levers E, E; rods G, G, for applying the shoes; hand-brake rods; levers R, R; and rod T; the ends of levers R, R, being in operative connection with rods G, G by means of chains S, S, and the ends of rods D, D, each being connected to a lever E by a slot-and-pin mchanism.

4. The combination in a brake mechanism, of two non-floating levers; rods for applying the shoes to the wheels; a pneu111atically-actuated system of levers in connection with said non-floating levers; two hand-brake rods; two

floating levers; means for uniting the floating levers; means connecting the floating levers and the rods for applying the shoes; and a yielding joint between the rods for applying the shoes and the hand-actuated system.

TIO

5. The combination in a brake mechanism, plying the shoes; and a yielding joint between of two nonfloating levers; rods for applying therods for applying the shoes and the handthe shoes to the Wheels; 3 pneumatically-acactuated system Which unites the two rods. 7 I tuated system of leversin connection with said 5 non-floating levers; a yielding joint between Witnessesz the non-floating levers; ahand-actuated lever J. E. DUNLAY, system in connection with the rods for ap- "JOSEPH SANDMAN.

AUGUST Gr. SANDMAN. 

